Underplayed Gems

Hotarubi no Mori e (2011)

Hotarubi no Mori e poster
Original title
蛍火の杜へ
Directed by
Takahiro Omori
Genre
romance anime and manga
Country
Japan
Rated
G
Rating
8.3 of 10 from 1,227 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A girl named Hotaru meets a masked boy named Gin in a forest. She cannot touch him or he will disappear. They grow closer each summer as she returns to visit him.

bittersweetgentlemelancholicdreamliketenderquietyearninginvisible bound

What happens

Hotarubi no Mori e (Japanese: 蛍火の杜へ; lit. "Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light") is a Shōjo manga. It was written by Yuki Midorikawa. It was shown in the LaLa DX magazine in July 2002. After, in July 2003, the manga was recreated as tankōbon short stories. The manga is about a girl called Hotaru and her friend Gin. Gin is a young man that wears a mask. They met when Hotaru was six in a forest. Hotaru learnt that if she touched Gin, he would disappear forever. Hotaru comes back every summer so that she can spend time with Gin. Many people think that Hotarubi no Mori e was a starting point for another book that was also written by Yuki Midorikawa. That was called Natsume's Book of Friends. An anime movie that had the same name as the manga was created. It was 44 minutes and it was released in 2011. It was made in a studio called Brain's Base. The director of the movie was Takahiro Omori. The main voice actors of the movie were Ayane Sakura and Kōki Uchiyama. Some of the music in the movie was made by Makoto Yoshimori. Many people enjoyed the movie and many people were big fans for a long time after the movie was released. The movie came out on 17 September 2011. It was showed at the Scotland Loves Animation festival, the Leeds International Film Festival, Anime Expo, and the 66th Mainichi Film Awards. The movie came out on blu-ray and DVD in Japan. This was on 22 February 2012. An extra story that was called Hotarubi no Mori e Tokubetsuhen (蛍火の杜へ 特別編) also came out. This came out in a special version of the manga. The special manga and the blu-ray were on number 13 of the Oricon list. People that reviewed the movie said that the movie was very good. They said that it was a beautiful and simple movie. They compared the movie to movies by Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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